HVAC Installation in Philadelphia, PA
A new system here will heat from October through April and cool from June through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Philadelphia County will get in touch.
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Eleven months of work for one system
Philadelphia County asks for heat from October through April and cooling from June through September. Eleven months a year, your system is the thing standing between you and the weather outside. Winter nights average 27°F, cold enough that a furnace runs its burner many times a day for months straight. Summer afternoons average 85°F, and the AC has to answer for that heat for four months running.
A new system here has to be sized for both jobs, not just one. Most homes in the county heat with gas, so the furnace and the coil that pairs with it both need to match what the house actually needs on the coldest night and the hottest afternoon. Storms are part of the picture too. Pennsylvania saw 15% of households lose power for at least 24 hours in 2024, and the county has logged 15 winter storms and 151 damaging wind events over the past ten years. It helps to know how the system you choose comes back once the power does.
- 7 months
- October through April, your system heats
- 4 months
- June through September, it cools
- 27°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 85°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Pennsylvania requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration puts the business on file with the state and nothing more. No trade exam sits behind it, and nobody tests the contractor's work before they get it. Pennsylvania also does not let Philadelphia add its own HVAC license on top, so this registration is the only state-level record that exists on a contractor here.
For a job installing a heating and cooling system, the protection that matters comes from the local building office. In most cities and counties, replacing a furnace, air conditioner or heat pump needs a permit and an inspection once the work is done, and that inspection is what checks the gas connections rather than any license or registration.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- When should I replace my HVAC system?
- Replace it when repairs get frequent, when it's using refrigerant that's being phased out, or when it can't keep up on the coldest or hottest days anymore. Furnaces and air conditioners both have a normal service life, and one running well past that point is worth replacing before it fails outright rather than after. With heat needed October through April here and cooling needed June through September, a system that quits has almost no season to fail in quietly. If a contractor is telling you a repair will cost close to what a new unit would, that's usually the point to stop repairing.
- Should I replace my furnace and air conditioner at the same time?
- If they're close in age, yes, and it's worth doing together even if only one has failed. A furnace and air conditioner installed at the same time are matched to work as one system, and pairing an old unit with a new one can mean the new one never runs at its rated efficiency. It also means one installation instead of two, and one visit instead of two. If your furnace still has years of life left and your air conditioner just failed, replacing only the air conditioner still makes sense. The math changes when both are old and one just went first.
- What happens during an HVAC installation?
- A contractor removes the old equipment, sets the new furnace and air conditioner or heat pump in place, and connects it to the ductwork, gas line or electrical circuit, and condensate drain. The refrigerant lines get connected and the system is charged to the level the new equipment needs, not just topped off from what was there before. Ductwork gets checked for leaks and sized to match the new equipment, since a system that moves too much or too little air won't heat or cool evenly. Once it's running, the contractor tests it through a full cycle and checks the airflow and temperature at the vents before calling the job done.